War and Hunger "Two Faces of the Same Crisis: UN

New York, November 18 (QNA): UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned that the hunger-conflict nexus is a strategic and existential threat, and the Security Council must treat it as such.

In her remarks during the Security Council's open debateآ on conflict-relatedآ food insecurity, held on Monday, the UN Deputy Secretary-General said "War and hunger are often two faces of the same crisis."

"Armed conflict drives acute food insecurity in 14 of 16 hunger hotspots worldwide," she said, adding "Last year, 295 million people faced acute hunger - 14 million more than the year before.آ The number of people experiencing catastrophic hunger have more than doubled to 1.9 million."

She explained that bullets and bombs "obliterate the fields where food grows, the markets where people trade, the roads that connect farmers to families.آ And hunger strikes back with equal force."

"In Sudan, the world's largest hunger crisis, violence is perpetuating famine across Darfur and Kordofan. In Gaza, where famine was confirmed in August, the situation remains severe," the UN Deputy Secretary-General said, stressing "Food itself has become a weapon," through deliberate starvation tactics.

The world's total military expenditure over the past decade, estimated at $21.9 trillion, yet ending hunger by 2030 costs much less - $93 billion per year, she added.